Brooke's Books Blog

It's The Glasses

Back in the saddle again...and having some cross stitch designin' fun. Thought I'd give you a sneak peek of Sandy Summer, the latest of the most recent passel of little witchie-poos I've been working on. You may remember Sadie Spring from last year but because life got in the way I wasn't able to complete her three sisters, Sandy Summer, Annie Autumn and Wendy Winter until now. I'm trying to have them ready by 4/16 so they can debut in the Online Needlework Show, which runs from 4/19 to 4/24. And wow, is that around the corner or what. Ugh! I have a few finishing touches to do on Sandy but for the most part this is how she'll look. I thank God every night for Kreinik Manufacturing. LOL! I'm serious. I LOVE their threads. They just made those sunglasses perfect. I used two #8 Fine Braids to make them...664 & 3503. Also, did you notice that her hat is a raggedy old straw thing. At least that's what I was going for. There's nothing like a favorite broken in straw sun hat. When stitching a row I'd occasionally bring the thread forward and bury it in the front, then clip it leaving a little tail / piece of straw. Here are a couple more images. 

Sunny THANK YOU From My Heart To Yours...

Well, I guess I've been hit by a ton of bricks...or something like that. I'm peeping my head out from under those bricks today to see if the world still exists out there and if I still exist in here. I know...I've been off line for way to long but I won't lie, losing Mom at Christmas just wiped me out. I've really been struggling both physically and emotionally these past few months. But during all that time you were there like a light at the end of a very long tunnel. I can not tell you just how MUCH your beautiful words of condolence and peace have meant to me. I read and re-read them all and every time they helped me cope with the next minute, hour, day. Thank you doesn't begin to cover it.

Mom was a "garden girl". She loved flowers and birds and everything about the natural world but her favorite flower was the sunflower. Well, actually, she loved daffodils as much. She was a sunny "yellow" kind of person so I created this thank you freebie in her memory and I hope you'll accept it with my deepest gratitude for your outpouring of love that has sustained me these last few months. I stitched it with DMC and Mill Hill beads on Wichelt's 14 count Pink Frost perforated paper and fit it inside an Ivory tri-fold needlework card with a 5" x 3" opening. The brown vine around the card frame was drawn with colored pencil and unfortunately can't be replicated but you could draw your own or leave it blank.

I'm slowly but surely coming back to normal and have started designing again, which makes me so happy. So, don't worry...The old addage is true. It really does just take time to heal from grief. With God and my family and friends, everything will be more than OK.

You can find the Sunflower Thank You freebie on my Freebies page here: http://www.brookesbooks.com/CrossStitchFreebies.html 

Happy Stitching,

Brookie

Mom Of My Heart

Franalee June Buchheister Thompson

b. May 18, 1931 - d. December 25, 2011

There has been a reason why I haven't posted for awhile. My darling mom passed away on Christmas Day, 2011 and I've been dealing with the kind of grief we all experience when someone special leaves our lives. Mom lived with us these past ten years so she was a very important member of our family and very present in our day to day lives. The boys have literally grown up with Oma right down the hall. What a blessing to not only have her as my mama when I was little but also as my friend in middle age. I'm so thankful to have had the opportunity to love and be loved so deeply over a lifetime. 

Mom was an amazing woman...So much so, there's no way I can properly memorialize her in one entry so I'd like to remember her through a special blog, which I will set up later this week. As I spend this year processing through my grief I know that more and more good memories of Mom will flood back to me and a blog will be a perfect place to share them. I'd love it if family and friends would contribute their stories, photos, videos, etc...as we progress. I'll write more in detail of her life and death there. But I think it's important to remember and thank her here for all she gave to Brooke's Books. She was our production and shipping manager since we began in 2003 and she worked tirelessly to make sure our customers got the best products and service we could muster. Her work ethic was second to none...and I'm not just saying that. She and Dad taught us that "work was love made visible" and I am so greatful to them for teaching me that singular truth. Mom was also an essential inspiration in my design work. She was a very talented artist who not only encouraged me but gave me sound advice and much needed criticism which was so necessary for success. She had amazing taste with a keen understanding of color and composition...I feel lost without my dear artistic and creative friend. But most importantly Mom taught me to "never give up" so I know she would want me to look ahead to a year of new designs and "get on with it". LOL! So, without further adieu...

I miss you and will love you forever...my mother...my friend.